(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on November 18, 2009.)
Kansas City Southern announced its subsidiaries the Kansas City Southern Railway Co. and Kansas City Southern de México S.A. de C.V. have implemented the new Umler™ system and have been using the equipment registry the past few months.
Railroads, rail shops, equipment owners, shippers and lessees use Umler — which also is known as the Equipment Management Information System, or EMIS — to exchange vital rail equipment information, such as the internal and external dimensions, capacities, weight and specific characteristics of freight cars, trailers and containers.
The original Universal Machine Language Equipment Register, or UMLER, system was created in 1968. Now, Umler maintains data for more than 2 million pieces of equipment used in rail, steamship and highway service.
Association of American Railroads subsidiary Railinc, which developed and manages Umler, cut over from the old UMLER to the new system on Aug. 31. Since then, several Class Is — including Canadian Pacific and BNSF Railway Co. — have implemented the new Umler system. KCS was the first Class I to go live in September, when equipment characteristics, car management functionalities, equipment status, re-stenciling support and component group capabilities were introduced, according to an item posted on the “KCS News” Web site.